'Amazing' turnout for food pantry challenge

Ann DeMatteo

Published 12:00 am, Thursday, October 25, 2012

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Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press
Cynthia Clegg, president and CEO of the the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, serves up a cup of curried apple pumpkin soup made by the Ladies of Faith Lutheran Church at the annual Amazing Challenge, a soup supper at the Fox Parish Center at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Middletown Thursday evening. Amazing Grace Food Pantry served 7,617 households in 2012 and has distributed 32,448 food items in August. less

Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press
Cynthia Clegg, president and CEO of the the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, serves up a cup of curried apple pumpkin soup made by the Ladies of Faith Lutheran ... more

'Amazing' turnout for food pantry challenge

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MIDDLETOWN >> On one end of the room, you had your South District firefighters bragging about their firehouse chili, and on the other side, Mayor Dan Drew was boasting about the chorizo gumbo with shrimp soup by The Red House.

"We've got a friendly competition going here," offered James Mastroianni, union president for South Fire District, who along with firefighters Terence Keenan and Robbie Zajac were serving up the chili to people who came through the doors of the Fox Parish Center at St. Francis of Assisi Church for the annual Amazing Challenge for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry.

"It's absolutely delicious," Drew said of the chorizo gumbo he was serving, adding that Thursday night's event was for "an incredible cause. In a time of need like this, Amazing Grace provides such an important function in the community."

About 300 people came to the parish center to make donations to the pantry, as well as to enjoy the fellowship of pantry volunteers, clients and donors. Soups were at 11 different stations around the room, giving community leaders who came out to serve the chance to give their time to the pantry, which in this economy is regularly serving about 960 families a month.

Ron Krom, the executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Middletown, was overjoyed that the Amazing Challenge brought in $10,465 at the door. The agency has until June 30 to raise $45,000 for pantry operations so that it can get a $22,500 match from the city.

"We'll make it. By Christmas, we'll have it. We get a lot of donations during Thanksgiving and Christmas," Krom said.

"It was an unbelievable turnout," said Claudia DeFrance, a St. Vincent de Paul board member who has been working the soup supper for six years. "This is like the third sitting."

"I think we exceeded last year. I'm totally overwhelmed with the turnout," said Cathie Giuffrida, a St. Vincent board member who chairs the soup supper event. "We had a least 300 people. I bought 400 water cups -- some people would use more than one -- and we ran out of them."

Giuffrida said it was great to see politicians at the event, as well as children.

Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, said he thought that more "community and faith-based organizations are needed to address housing and food issues that the poor face."

Though St. Vincent de Paul Middletown also sponsors a soup kitchen at 617 Main St., supportive housing and community assistance, including the Operation Fuel program for Middletown and Portland, the food pantry "has the most community involvement and community support," Krom said

Indeed.

On Thursday night, 11 individuals, restaurants, churches or organizations made the soups that were served, and other groups, churches and restaurants provided breads and cookies for visitors to eat.

"It's going unbelievable. This is my first Amazing Grace event and I couldn't find a parking spot," McKenna said. "I'm so thrilled at the amount of people supporting this. I'm so lucky to have been among the celebrity servers."

Added Serra, "It's a good community event. It highlights the role of the food pantry and what it does for the community."

"I come every year," said state Sen. Paul Doyle, D-9, who did some soup serving.

Doyle, along with state Rep. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, got permission from the state to allow Middletown to refund taxes to Amazing Grace because it didn't file its non-profit tax exemption with the city.

Krom explained that St. Vincent's purchased the building on Stack Street for the food pantry on Sept. 1, 2010, and for the next month, he was so busy renovating that he missed the Oct. 1 filing deadline for the exemption. The organization paid about $5,000 in taxes for the building for the upcoming fiscal year and have already been reimbursed by Middletown, he said.